The Boston Barometer: Volume 10
Another week of struggling at Fenway prevents the Red Sox from gaining any real momentum.
We are back with the original format of The Boston Barometer! This week the Red Sox went 3-3 with another series loss at Fenway Park. They did however end up stealing a series from the first place Cleveland Guardians. While a series win against the Guardians should not change how anyone views this team, it was nice to watch this group grind through 2 tough wins against a quality team.
The Good
Jarren Duran
Photo Credit: Paul Rutherford / Stringer / Getty Images
This week we saw some strong offensive performances. Jarren Duran went 11-28 this week with 4 home runs. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Red Sox offense is in its best stretch of the season and it’s leadoff hitter is red hot. As Jarren Duran goes, so does this Red Sox offense most of the time. Duran put together a solid month of May with a slash line of .261 / .331 / .548 with 9 home runs. If this offense wants to avoid being a bottom 5 lineup in the sport, it starts with Duran.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa
One of the surprises not only this week but over the last two weeks has been Isiah Kiner-Falefa. While at times I have questioned why he is even on this roster, IKF has been the Red Sox best hitter over the last two weeks. Over his last seven games, IFK is hitting .458 / .519 / .625 and over his last 15 games he is hitting .429 / .512 / .571. Nobody saw this turnaround coming but you have to give credit where credit is due. IKF has been fantastic and he deserves to be in the lineup every day until he cools off.
Caleb Durbin
Another pleasant surprise has been Caleb Durbin, who had a great series against the Guardians. Durbin had a few off days in a row earlier in the week. He made some swing adjustments and maybe more importantly some approach changes. Durbin was 4-13 with 2 doubles and a triple against Cleveland. What was great to see was Durbin using the entire field. All 3 of his extra base hits in the series came down the right field line, a spot in which he did not have a hit to all season prior to this series. The biggest issue with Durbin early in the season was the inability to stay away from hitting a ground ball to the left side of the infield. Over the last couple of days it appears like his plan is to deliberately hit the ball to the opposite field. Durbin was a big reason why the Red Sox were able to take a series against the Guardians.
The Bad
Play at Home
The home and road splits are beyond bizarre. One of the few things that the Red Sox can typically bank on is that they are going to score runs at Fenway Park and win more often than they lose at home. That has been the furthest thing from the truth in 2026. The Red Sox went 4-11 at Fenway Park in the month of May and were 9-3 on the road. It’s a staggering number and it’s one of the key reasons they are 8 games below .500 and in the basement of the AL East. Maybe the law of averages will even out and Boston will go on a run of great baseball at Fenway Park but the damage may be done already. The poor play at home (9-19) may be the biggest reason this team is not a contender come the Trade Deadline.
The Middle Relievers
The Red Sox had the #2 bullpen ERA with Zack Kelly and Tyler Samaniego. Then, Danny Coulombe returned from injury and the Red Sox chose to demote Kelly and call up Tyron Guerrero. Coulombe had a blowup early this week against the Braves and Guerrero has given up 4 runs in 5 innings. After Thursday’s loss, the bullpen ERA dropped all the way down to #9. The bullpen had a nice rebound in Cleveland, especially since Brayan Bello gave them 7 scoreless innings. However, guys like Coulombe, Guerrero, and Greg Weissert cannot be trusted in a big spot. With Slaten and Chapman only pitching late in games and no Garrett Whitlock right now, the options are extremely limited in the middle innings for Chad Tracy.
Panic or Patience?
The Red Sox PR Team
Photo Credit: Boston Globe / Contributor / Getty Images
The Red Sox PR Team may be the worst to ever do it. The organization chose to come out and say they hoped Roman Anthony’s IL stint would be the limited number of days. Now, he has been officially shut down again after feeling soreness in his finger taking swings off of the tee. Anthony hasn’t appeared in a game since May 4th and could miss up to 6-8 weeks with this nagging injury. At the same time, the organization said that Garrett Crochet’s shoulder injury was minor and that he should only spend the minimum number of days on the IL. That was on April 25th. Now, Crochet has been shut down because of an issue with his lat.
The Red Sox chose to create the narrative that their 2 best players would not miss a lot of time and that their injuries were minor. While you never know how a player responds with an injury, they chose to downplay the significance of the injuries. They could always use the phrase, “We are going to wait and see how the player responds to treatment” before putting expectations on players. The fact that the Red Sox and their medical team did this with their 2 most important players only puts the entire situation under a microscope. They are quickly learning that choices come with consequences. Panic.
Up Next
Boston returns home, where they only have one series win, to take on the Baltimore Orioles. It’s hard to fathom that we are in June and the Red Sox have one home series win. The Orioles are coming off of a week in which they took 5 out of 7 from the Rays and Blue Jays. To end the week, the Red Sox will travel to New York to take on the Yankees. I would love to hope that the Red Sox will return home and keep the momentum going from a big series win in Cleveland. However, that has not happened all season. It’s an important week as it kicks off a stretch where Boston plays 12 of their next 15 games against AL East teams. If there ever was a time to get back into the conversation in the division, it would be now.